In this section, I am happy to present you some of my instrumental compositions.

Reflections, for trumpet in C and piano 

Composed in 2007-2008, this piece has been commissioned by my longtime friend and excellent trumpet player Hugo Blacher (now 1st trumpet solo at the Orchestre National du Capitole in Toulouse). He was finishing his trumpet studies at the CNSMD in Lyon in Thierry Caens’ class and asked me to compose a piece for his recital of the interpretation prize. The title Reflections, chosen in English, has a double meaning, that encompasses the notion of reflection (thought) and reflection (the reflection of the light). The structure is both linear and made of quotations like a mirror. On the one hand, the piece develops in the form of successive variations from an initial interrogative cell, in the image of reflections which follow one another and which are transformed from a first idea. On the other hand, there is a form in arch with sections that reflect one another, sometimes calm and sometimes agitated. Reflections is a very poetic piece that also uses the rich color palette of the trumpet (using open tones and muted sounds with the Harmon mute – so dear to Miles Davis – and the cup mute). The creation of the piece took place at the CNSMD of Lyon, on May 25th, 2008. I slightly revised the score in 2013.

Fast and furious, for tenor trombone and piano

Composed in 2010-2011, this piece was written for my brother Fabrice, an excellent trombonist, concert performer and renowned teacher (at the Hochschule in Freiburg and the CNSMD in Paris). The title refers to the well-known series of action films of the same name. When we were kids, Fabrice and I used to play on the video game Fast and furious from the movie and I still remember the adrenaline of these car racings on our old Atari, with dazzling accelerations, violent brakings, screech of tires, going off the road … Like those frantic car races, this piece is very virtuous and pushes the interpreter to go to beyond the limits. The music with funky references (I love the groove of Maceo Parker, Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Oz Noy …) is a wink at Fabrice, who at the time started the trombone to be able to play in the big band of the Toulouse Conservatory. The creation of the piece took place at the Théâtre de l’Etang in Saint-Estève (Pyrénées-Orientales) on May 29th, 2011. Fabrice at the trombone, of course, and Nathanaël Gouin at the piano.

Below, a version of Fast and furious performed live by Fabrice and Nathanaël, a version that I appreciate a lot!

Fantasy, for trombone trio (2 tenor trombones and 1 bass trombone)

Fantasy has been commissioned by the Trio Triptyque (Gérald Evrard and Robin Rinchard, tenor trombones / Josquin Chuffart, bass trombone). Composed in 2012-2013, the title of this piece, Fantasy, has a double meaning. It refers to the musical genre, characterized by a certain formal freedom. It also alludes to the universe of the literary genre of “fantasy“, implying a great deal of imagination, supernatural creatures, magic, myths … The creation of the piece took place on October 29th, 2016 in Luzern (Switzerland) as part of the 2nd Swiss Trombone Days 2016 by a trio of talented young Spanish musicians: Juan Sanjuan and Roberto de la Guia at tenor trombones and Francisco Ramirez Cuevo at the bass trombone. The video above is a brilliant live performance by the three young musicians the day of the creation.

Juan Sanjuan Mas, tenor trombone
Manolo Gomez Gimeno, tenor trombone
Pierre Campenon, bass trombone

Internationale Posaunenvereinigung e.V Symposium Weimar 2018
March 10th, 2018 
Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar